7 Most Essential Skincare Products For Radiant Skin

Over the past few years, I have become obsessed with makeup. I love buying new highlighters and painting my face to see what I can come up with next. However, with putting makeup on, comes gross and unwanted particles and bacteria that stick on your skin. Some cause acne, discoloration, irritation, dry skin and more. So, with my passion for makeup came a passion for skincare and taking care of my face. Here are my favorite skincare products you cannot (and should not) live without.

So without further ago, lets make something very very clear...you're skin.

Everyone knows its important to moisturize, even for men. But people don't understand how vital it is to start early in life. It's easier to prevent than to fix wrinkles. I started moisturizing my sophomore year of college; I honestly should've started sooner. Since then, I have never looked back. My skincare routine is a time where I can relax and take a load off. Every day I look forward to "taking my face off." There is nothing like pampering yourself.

The skin under your eyes is extra sensitive and needs special care of its own. Don't think that your general moisturizer will do the trick. I pride myself on my designer bags/raccoon eyes. After years of testing different products, this is one of my favorites.

Exfoliation is a vital step. It eliminates dead skin, refines pores and smoothes out uneven skin. Months ago I read an article about this woman who threw out all of her skincare products and only used Lush Cosmetics. I was hooked. I went to the mall and picked up my own Lush staples. Let me tell you, I have never looked back and my skin has never been so calm and happy.

As an exfoliant I use Let The Good Times Roll which smells like cookies. As a cleanser, I use Fresh Farmacy.

Ever have those pesky little pimples that won't go away and aren't for the popping? Drying lotion will save your life. Use a little Q-tip to apply to any problem spots before bed and by morning, it's as if a miracle took place.

Costco brand makeup wipes have never steered me wrong. Make sure you cleanse your face after taking off your makeup. Cleaning your face off all of your makeup is essential, that's why the wipes come in. But if you don't cleanse afterward, yucky bacteria will just sit on your face that you moved around with the wipe. Wipes get the job done halfway but are still an important step.

Toners come in after the cleansing which helps to rid your face of any extra debris and bacteria that can be hiding in your pores. A toner goes on first then the serum. The toner won't work as well if it's the other way around!

Over the past few years, I have become obsessed with makeup. I love buying new highlighters and painting my face to see what I can come up with next. However, with putting makeup on, comes gross and unwanted particles and bacteria that stick on your skin. Some cause acne, discoloration, irritation, dry skin and more. So, with my passion for makeup came a passion for skincare and taking care of my face. Here are my favorite skincare products you cannot (and should not) live without. These products aren't in any particular order of routine, however, here is a list below of which item to use first.

Mornings:

1. Cleanser

2. Toner

3. Serum

4. Sunscreen

5. Eye Cream (to de-puff)

6. (Priming) Moisturizer

This makes an excellent base for your makeup. Order one yourself from Glossier.com

Night:

1. Makeup Remover Wipes (if makeup was used)

2. Cleanser

3. Exfoliate (I do this in the shower)

4. Toner

5. Serum

6. Eye Cream

7. Moisturizer

Please note that all items are in stock as of the time of publication. As an Amazon Associate, Odyssey may earn a portion of qualifying sales.

4. "There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls."

5. Viking symbol meaning "create your own reality."

6.Greek symbol of Inguz: where there's a will, there's a way.

7. Psalm 18:33 "He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights."

8. 'Ohm' tattoo that represents 4 different states of consciousness and a world of illusion: waking (jagrat), dreaming (swapna), deep sleep (sushupti), transcendental state (turiya) and world of illusion (maya)

10. The Greek word “Meraki" means to do something with soul, passion, love and creativity or to put yourself in to whatever you do.

11. Malin (Skövde, Sweden) – you have to face setbacks to be able to go forward.

12. Symbol meaning "thief" from the Hobbit. It was the rune Gandalf etched into Bilbo's door so the dwarves could find his house.

13. “Lux in tenebris" means “light in darkness."

14. Anchor Tattoo: symbolizing strength & stability, something (or someone) who holds you in place, and provides you the strength to hold on no matter how rough things get.

15."Ad Maiora" is translated literally as “Towards greater things." It is a formula of greeting used to wish more success in life, career or love.

16. A glyphs means “explore." It was meant as a reminder for me to never stop exploring.

17. "Aut inveniam viam aut faciam," meaning roughly, "Either I shall find a way, or I will make one."

18. Lotus Flower. It grows in muddy water, and it is this environment that gives forth the flower's first and most literal meaning: rising and blooming above the murk to achieve enlightenment.

19. The zen (or ensō) circle to me represents enlightenment, the universe & the strength we all have inside of us.

20. Two meanings. The moon affirms life. It looks as if it is constantly changing. Can reminds us of the inconsistency of life. It is also symbolizes the continuous circular nature of time and even karma.

10 Of The Best Bath & Body Works Scents Your Nose Will Thank You For

Working at Bath and Body Works helped me learn a lot about their many different fragrance selections. When things are slow, you literally can just go around and smell everything. My first few days of work, I left with a headache from smelling too many candles and lotions.

Not only did I learn what my favorite scents are, but which ones were popular with everyone else and why. Some make perfect home fragrances while others are perfect as an everyday scent to wear to work or school. After much contemplation and some experience in the industry, these are the fragrances I feel deserve to be named the Top Ten of Bath and Body Works.

10. Vanilla Bean Noel

Vanilla Bean Noel proves to be popular every time it hits the shelves around Christmas time. It is basically a holiday/glorified version of warm vanilla sugar and definitely has a more unique and stronger scent (at least for one that is mainly vanilla).

9. Twilight Woods

Twilight woods is one of the most popular body care scents sold by Bath and Body Works. It is one of Bath and Body Works warmer scents that makes you just want to grab and blanket and cuddle up by a warm fire.

8. Japanese Cherry Blossom

Japanese Cherry Blossom is the oldest body care scent to remain in their signature collection. While other fragrances tend to retire eventually, this one always remains true for us to continually enjoy. There is just something luxurious about this scent that we can't get enough of.

7. Watermelon Lemonade

Watermelon lemonade is the perfect summertime scent, while it has retired as a body care scent, you can still get it in the home care fragrances like candles, room sprays, and hand soaps. Although if you shop their semi-annual sale, you can almost always find the retired body care items brought back out for sale for a limited time.

6. Black Cherry Merlot

Black cherry merlot is strictly a home care fragrance, but it is basically jolly ranchers put into a fragrance and who wouldn't want that?

5. Champagne Toast

Champagne toast is usually only brought out during the semi-annual sale, but since it has proven its popularity, Bath and Body Works has started to incorporate it back into their everyday products such as candles and wallflowers. If you for some reason don't personally like the scent, its packaging and popularity make for a great gift.

4. Sweater Weather

Sweater weather is both strictly a home care scent and a fall scent; it is anticipated year-round by those who are fall scent fanatics. When you smell this in someone's house, you know that fall is right around the corner.

3. Winter Candy Apple

Winter Candy Apple is the icon of Bath and Body Works Christmas fragrances. Once they finally hit the shelves, people stock up on them. And for those who can't afford to pay full price, they just wait for the after Christmas semi-annual sale to get them half off and stock up for the rest of the year.

2. A Thousand Wishes

A thousand wishes has proven to be so popular that it has actually won awards. When I worked at Bath and Body Works, there was about double the amount of a thousand wishes on the shelves compared to the rest of the signature scents, and believe me, there had to be.

1. The Original Forever Red

If there is a scent that Bath and Body Works fans have lost their minds over, it's forever red. When I worked there back in 2017, they decided to retire the scent and sell the last remaining stock during their summer semi-annual sale, and every bit of it got wiped clean. Just recently, they decided to "relaunch" forever red. Basically, the packaging is not as luxurious, but more importantly, people are not pleased with the scent, saying that it is nothing like to original and very faint. So RIP to one of the best scents ever created by bath and body works; you will 'forever' be remembered.